Changed Paths
by sunnyyellow55
Summary: After Zuko becomes the fire lord, he visits a small village he once passed by to apologize to a certain girl he has wronged in the past. A two set drabble.
1. Chapter 1

_**part i**_

When Zuko first came to the village, he thought he wouldn't be back. He thought he would never see the narrow little streets with the shrewd wild tufts of grass growing along the road, or the simple flat cottages that always seemed so welcoming to the lonely travelers that passed by, or the healing house with a girl who hopefully still worked there. A girl who so generously tended to his uncle's rash without payment since they had none to give. The same girl whose hospitably invited them to dinner to eat her mother's delicious roasted duck.

Lost in thought, he realized he reached the edge of the healing hut. Everything looked the same. The small and humble but pretty garden still decorated the exterior of the building, giving it a welcoming aura.

And here he was, back, ridden with guilt. Guilt for betraying the naïve girl's trust and kindness by stealing her family's ostrich horse. He understood why he did it back then; he and his uncle were just proclaimed traitors of Fire Nation. With nowhere to go and with no goals to follow, his emptiness and desperation were greatly amplified at that time. Still, it was no excuse for him not to understand what he did was a terrible thing to do.

He was different now, and he came here today to apologize. He often reminisced the time she talked about her past. It really did trigger him back then, only because he, at that time, did not want to accept the facts of what the Fire Nation and its devastating army meant for the innocent people in war, and how war mercilessly messed up every aspect of these people's daily lives. Now, more than ever, he wanted to hear Song's story and understand the person he saw her as, a person full of empathy and trust in the mist of cruel sadness and despair. Even though he knew that what he did to her family was inexcusable, he had an inkling of hope that maybe, somehow, she would have it somewhere in her heart to forgive him.

Gently tugging the ostrich horse, he arrived at the sturdy wooden door. He hesitated a bit before taking a deep breath. He raised his hand and knocked.


	2. Chapter 2

_**part ii**_

What seemed like an eternity were just a few moments before the door opened. A petite girl wearing a traditional white and pink hanbok stood there with a welcoming smile.

"Hello. May I…" She stopped, eyes staring at Zuko's face in recognition. After a brief hesitation, her face changed into a polite but guarded expression. She bowed deeply. "Sorry my lord, I didn't realize—"

Zuko interrupted by putting a hand up to indicate her to stop. She looked up only see a pair of remorseful eyes looking at her. "So I'm guessing you know I'm not Lee," asked Zuko embarrassed with a hand nervously scratching the back of his neck. Still a bit startled, she was only able to nod as a reply. "Song, I may be the Firelord now, but to you, I'm still Lee. Or rather, I'm still Zuko. I wish there would be no formalities between us. In front of you, I want to just be…Zuko."

Song nodded silently but with a new understanding in her eyes. An awkward silence ensued between them prompting Zuko to continue.

"I want to apologize. I was so cold and rude to your sincere kindness. I even took advantage of you and your mother's generosity by stealing your ostrich horse!" The outburst took his breath away. "I…" he hung his head.

Song's expression softened as she felt the sincerity in Zuko's voice. She slowly raised a hand to touch Zuko's shoulders to reassure him, but flinched back, remembering his past aversion to her touch. Instead. she gently took the ostrich horse's reins.

He looked up, meeting Song's warm smile. "I hope Meihai had served you well." She glanced up at the ostrich horse with questioning look. "What happened to her?"

"Your ostrich horse really helped me along my journey. I was very grateful for having her. But.." He looked down, ashamed, "I'm sorry. I lost her in the desert and…"

"It's okay," Song interrupted before Zuko could start his nervous rambling. "Actually, I want to apologize as well for being so forward at that time. I naively assumed your pain, saying it was similar to mine's, never giving it a second thought that people have such different circumstances. I just saw you so lonely and broken. I…" She hesitated, unsure if she wanted to say it, "I wanted you to believe there's still good in this world." She laughed a bit ruefully. "I even tried to point out the avatar was back, but I guess that was the irony of it all." Her voice faltered as the words spilled out, like the rushing waters of the waterfall, unable to stop.

This time, it was Zuko who reached out a hand to Song's shoulders to stop her rambling. "Why are you apologizing? You meant to comfort me, and it was kind of you to do so."

A slight cough from behind broke their conversation as Song realized that she still had patients waiting for treatment. She dropped the reins and started walking towards the patients before glancing backing with a beaming smile. "Well Zuko, I'm so glad to see you again. Would you like to come eat some of my mother's roasted duck after I take care of these patients?"

Zuko's face lit up, and he returned a small joyful smile, knowing he has been forgiven.

"Of course."

A/N: Hi! This is Sunny here. Just a note about the story. Part ii was a bit longer than I thought, it's not really a drabble is it. I always thought that Song would be the kind of person to name all her animals haha. I chose a random name, Meihai, meaning "beautiful sea" in Chinese characters, which is really really really random LOL xD. Part ii was my intended ending for this set of drabble. However, when writing this, I already started imagining another drabble part about the conversation that they would have walking towards Song's house. I have the story set as completed for now, but tell me readers, would you guys want another chapter?


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